


found.

by ruzekhalstead



Series: halstead & upton mini-fics. [3]
Category: Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Chicago - Freeform, Upstead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruzekhalstead/pseuds/ruzekhalstead
Summary: “your place?”“well, your house has stairs. stairs are bad for the baby.”“stairs are bad for the baby that can’t walk?”-prompt: while chasing a lead on their homicide investigation, jay & hailey find an abandoned baby on christmas eve. as to not have the baby spend it's first christmas at family services, it's up to jay & hailey, with a little help from will & the rest of the team to take care of it.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Series: halstead & upton mini-fics. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914352
Comments: 24
Kudos: 63





	1. part one.

it’s december 24th and their day starts off normal, just like any other day.

it was cold and snowing and hailey had never hated chicago more than she did in that moment (but it’s her home; she wouldn’t ever give it up). she beat jay into the office (she’s usually the first one, being an early bird and all), but he showed up with coffee and a smug smile. their downtime doesn’t last long, as voight assigns them to chase down a lead on their double homicide. this particular case had been dragging on with few breakthroughs and they were getting ready to ship it off to homicide, but voight wanted to take one last crack at it. 

hailey leaned against the far wall while jay knocked on the apartment door. “william bradford, open up; chicago pd.”

they hear nothing but silence and jay rolled his eyes, repeating his earlier words.

“another dead end,” hailey mumbled, grabbing her phone to update voight.

jay nearly followed her lead and turned around but a noise from inside the apartment stopped him. “wait, did you hear that?” he turned to look at hailey and placed his ear against the door.

“no?” hailey looked confused. 

“i heard something. it sounded like…” he knew it sounded farfetched, but he swore he heard a cry. with his ear up against the door, he’s able to hear more cries; he swallowed harshly at the familiarity of a baby’s cries. 

from her new position closer to her partner, hailey clearly heard the baby’s cries. “jay, does that sound like a baby to you?”

jay doesn’t bother answering her; he moved back and sturdily kicked the door down. that’s usually one of his favourite parts of the job, but he can hardly focus on that as the baby’s cries multiply. hailey pushed past him and headed in the direction of the screams; it lead them to a dark bedroom in the back of the apartment. upon entering, they find a beautiful baby boy, who looked no more than a year old, lying in her crib with a red face from screaming. 

jay is momentarily frozen because this young, defenceless child is here all alone, but hailey moved into action. she scooped the baby into her arms and cradled him against her chest, whispering soothing nothings against the baby’s head. it took a moment but the baby’s cries subside into whimpers. 

hailey turned to look at jay with wide, watery eyes. “jay,” she started to speak, but her voice broke. she wanted to say more but she can’t; there’s something about cases involving children that affects them all deeply, on another level. they are innocent and defenseless, and hailey is still stunned someone would leave a baby all alone like this.

jay doesn’t need hailey to explain; he understood. he dropped an arm around her shoulder and held her for a moment as she held the baby who is now staring up at her with a transfixed expression. 

“come on,” he murmured, pulling her elbow gently. “let’s stop at the hospital and will can make sure he’s okay.”

* * *

voight decided to meet them at the hospital. after hearing what his detectives found in the apartment, he couldn’t not go out and make sure the little guy was alright.

“talk to me,” he directed his words at jay, who is casually leaning against the wall. hailey is peaking through the doors, watching carefully as will examines their newfound baby. 

jay snapped out of his thoughts quickly. “we knocked twice; nothing. i heard crying so we made entry. found the baby in his crib, unharmed and no sign of any guardian around.”

“any id on the mother?”

jay frowned. “not yet. i have ruzek looking into it.”

voight nodded. “alright, we’re kicking this case off to homicide; too many dead ends. merry christmas, halstead,” he smirked. 

“sarge — ” jay is on high alert, prepared to protest.

of course voight was expecting it; he knew exactly who his detectives were. “i want you to stay with this baby until we figure out who he belongs too.” jay’s eyes widen; he loved kids, but babies are incredibly fragile and a massive responsibility. “upton; you too.”

hailey snapped her eyes to voight as if she hadn’t been eavesdropping their entire conversation. “want us to call dcfs?”

voight paused, looking through the glass doors at will, who is finishing up with his examination and smiling at the little guy. “tomorrow is christmas eve,” he replied gruffly, “i’m not letting that baby spend it’s first christmas at family services.”

he turns to leave, but jay and hailey are still confused. “wait, then where are we taking it?”

voight smirked. “you two found him; he’s your responsibility now until you find the mother.”

“what?” jay stammered, his eyes widening at voight’s demand. 

“you better hope ruzek pulls through and finds that mother,” voight remarked in response, already halfway out the door. 

before either have a chance to properly process what voight said, will knocked on the glass sliding door and motioned them inside. “find a name for this little guy yet?” will queried, as he picked up the baby from the checkup table. 

“we have literally no information,” hailey replied sadly, “don’t even know who the mother is yet.”

will frowned as he bounced the baby on his hip. “well, on the bright side, the baby is perfectly healthy. a little malnourished, but nothing some formula can’t fix. do we need to call family services?”

“uh,” jay scratched the back of his head, “voight told us not to actually.”

“since we found him, he’s our responsibility until we find the mother,” hailey added, watching will’s amused face. “he doesn’t want the baby’s first christmas to be at family services.”

will can’t help but laugh out loud; the baby in his arms giggled in response. “i’m sorry, but voight put  _ you _ in charge of this baby?” he directed his sassy remark at jay, who looked offended. “is he aware that is the worst idea he’s ever had?”

“i’ve dealt with babies before, will,” jay rolled his eyes, but he really is nervous to handle a baby on his own.

will nodded, snickering as he passed the baby onto hailey. “oh yeah, sure, my bad. because we’ve had so many children in the family.”

“shut up,” jay groaned. “plus, i have hailey. she has nephews.”

hailey nodded. the baby is calm, sleepy and slowly dozing off. “yeah, i do. i’ve babysat them many times.”

“have you ever babysat them overnight?” will inclined with a raised eyebrow.

hailey’s lips formed an o. “no…” she noted warily. “how bad can it be?”

will is so amused, he can’t stop himself from bursting out laughing. “oh, you two; so unbelievably naive.”

“stop being an ass and promise me you’re coming over later,” jay snapped, but his green eyes are pleading. if anyone can take care of a baby healthily, it’s his attending physician older brother (even if he will tease jay about this for the remainder of their days). 

will laughed and knocked jay on the shoulder. “yeah, i’ll be there. but until then, good luck you two!” he sent them a cheery smile before exiting the room (a little too happily, if you ask jay).

the baby in hailey’s arms was fully asleep now; she raised an eyebrow at jay. “your place?” he just stared at her in response. 

“well, your house has stairs,” he deadpanned. “stairs are bad for the baby.”

hailey bit her lip in amusement. “stairs are bad for the baby that can’t walk?”

“you never know,” he rolled his eyes. “and in case it wasn’t clear enough, you’re spending the night at my place.”

“how can i say no to such an inviting offer?” she replied sarcastically, but jay was so done with will and hailey’s teasing. “oh relax,” she answered (she can read him so well). “we have to pick a name.”

jay’s eyebrows furrowed together. “what are you talking about? his name is jay.”

hailey rolled her eyes, and if her hands weren’t full, she would have smacked him. “that’s cute, but no.”

“i actually had a better idea,” jay noted, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “i was thinking alvin? i don’t know; it might be too much, but it was just a thought.”

hailey’s heart felt like it swelled three times its size. “jay,” she breathed softly, “it’s perfect.”

he smiled warmly. “okay, great.”

“do you think will has an extra car seat or supplies? we have to stop by the district first,” she expertly doesn’t mention how kim and vanessa keep blowing up their group chat with requests to see the baby. “also, even though voight says this is our responsibility, i’m not sure if that means we don’t have to finish our work day.”

jay shot her a questioning expression. “i’m sure he’s still expecting us,” he grieved in response to the second part of her statement. “and i’m pretty sure they have some supplies in storage, unfortunately.”

he knew enough from what will had said in the past that parents who lost their newborn babies in the hospital sometimes don’t want to take their things home because the pain is too much. so they leave them at the hospital and it gets recycled to other moms who aren’t as fortunate to buy such products. 

“you good?” he prodded, his eyes flickering down to alvin sleeping peacefully. “i can go find will and meet you at the truck?”

hailey nodded. “yeah, that sounds good.”

she watched as jay walked away in search of his redheaded brother.

“and so our adventure begins.”


	2. part two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "jay, you'd make a really hot dad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to let you guys know, i changed the dates for the sake of how i wanted this to end, so everything starts on christmas eve now. hope you guys like it!!

hailey had promised kim and vanessa that she would stop by the district to introduce them to baby alvin. they also needed to go by anyway to sign the paperwork in order to transfer the case to homicide. 

in all honesty, it was a struggle to set up the car seat in jay’s truck. mostly because neither of them had ever done it before and never expected to so soon. it also didn’t help that it was december 24th and absolutely freezing outside. it ended with jay, frustrated out of his mind and hailey, googling the proper technique on how to do it. eventually they got it, but jay still frowned the whole drive over.

they hardly made it up the stairs before trudy stopped them.

“what is that and what is it doing in my district?” trudy frowned, staring at the car seat jay was carrying. 

he made his way to her desk and plopped the seat on it. her frown deepened. 

“what are you doing, chuckles?”

it was jay’s turn to frown, but hailey was loving it. 

“chuckles? oh, i’m definitely stealing that,” hailey laughed, gently nudging baby alvin’s foot. he giggled and it was the most adorable thing.

even trudy cracked the tiniest smile. “voight mentioned something about this,” she motioned to baby alvin, “but he didn’t say it would be in my district.”

“we just have to finish off some paperwork,” hailey replied, “it’s not a problem, is it?”

trudy sent her a real, genuine smile. “of course not, hailey. let me know if you need anything.”

with that, she placed her glasses back on her face and went back to her computer. jay grabbed the car seat again and trailed hailey up the stairs, all the while looking confused. 

“what the hell? why is she so nice to you?” jay mumbled disappointedly. 

hailey merely smirked. 

“oh. my. god!” before they even finished their trek up to the bullpen, vanessa was waiting expectantly at the stairs. “jay, hurry up, i want to see the baby!”

jay frowned. “why is everyone being so mean to me today?” 

“we already have one baby to take care of, jay,” hailey mocked and jay’s mouth dropped at her audacity. he’d heard sassy hailey (many times) but let’s be honest, she usually coddled his feelings. she didn’t this time, and even though jay was offended, he found it extremely attractive.

kim and vanessa waste no time in stealing the baby away from jay, so he walked to his desk and focused on his essential paperwork. 

“oh my god, he is so precious!” kim cooed, tickling baby alvin’s stomach. 

adam came stumbling out of the breakroom. “is the baby here?” he exclaimed, rushing over with an expression of pure excitement. it had been quite an uneventful morning for the rest of the unit so when adam heard that his friends found a baby, he was understandably excited.

“he is so adorable,” vanessa added, staring at the baby and looking like the epitome of the heart eyes emoji. 

“voight put you in charge?” adam voiced his question in jay’s direction, where he was signing a few forms. jay looked up and shot a glare at the judgement in adam’s voice. “sorry man,” adam stifled a laugh, “but do you even have anything in your fridge?”

jay threw his arms up in exasperation. “is today pick on jay day or something?”

“don’t be dramatic,” adam rolled his eyes, unbuckling alvin from his seat to pick him up. “i’ve seen your apartment many times.”

jay mumbled some profanities under his breath. 

“have you guys given this little guy a name yet?” kim asked, playing with alvin’s fingers.

hailey and jay shared a secretive look before hailey revealed softly, “we decided to name him alvin.”

“i love that,” kim replied warmly; adam smiled so wide, his cheeks burned. vanessa obviously never got the chance to meet alvin olinsky, but she’d heard nothing but great things about the man. she’s positive it’s a great honour to be named after him. 

“so, what’s next for you two?” adam asked, bouncing the baby as he walked around the bullpen. 

hailey and jay shared another look; this time, jay looked slightly terrified, while hailey looked nauseous. “well, voight says we’re in charge until we find the mother. so, ruzek, any progress on that?” hailey questioned him with hopeful eyes. 

“sorry to disappoint, hails,” adam replied, though he doesn’t look that sad; mostly just amused at the night his friends have laid out for them. “i’m very saddened to report i haven’t found anyone; not even a distant family member. “

hailey rolled her eyes. “you don’t look sad at all.”

“no, truly, i’m very torn up,” his right eyelid dropped in a wink. “i’ll keep looking though.”

kim rolled her eyes at her ex-boyfriend’s antics. “don’t worry, i’ll help. i’m sure we can find something.”

“in the meantime, you guys are probably good to head out now,” vanessa added, staring lovingly at baby alvin. “voight was just waiting on you guys to sign over the paperwork so we could all go home.”

jay looked up expectantly, with a large, nervous smile. “you guys are all coming over, right?”

“sorry! i’m spending the holidays with some friends and i’m leaving right after work,” vanessa replied apologetically. she busied herself with grabbing her coat and organizing her desk. 

jay’s hopeful eyes flitted to adam and kim. 

“i have to go visit my sister before she leaves for the holidays,” kim responded with an apologetic frown. “adam is going to his sister’s too, right?”

adam nodded his head, strapping baby alvin back into his seat. his bouncing of the baby had relaxed him so much, he was now snoozing away. “yeah, sorry. i’ll stay a bit longer to see what else i can dig up, but i have to leave tonight.”

“it’s fine,” jay frowned, “i’ll remember this next time any of you need my help.”

adam rolled his eyes. “okay, honey,” he mocked, “now, can you take the kids home and start dinner or am i the only one who does anything in this house?”

“i hate you.”

* * *

before hailey and jay left the district, kevin had come back from the store with a number of baby essentials they might need. he was sent by voight, who figured jay and hailey, would have no idea what they even needed, but kevin had experience with caring for little ones, so he was perfect for the job. 

the two partners trudged their way through the chicago winter and to jay’s apartment 

he won’t lie; he was nervous as hell, but hailey looked so calm and it genuinely comforted him. will had texted and promised he would bring some extra baby gear, so in the meantime, they kept the baby in his car seat to be safe. 

“i’m going to make him a bottle, he’s probably hungry by now,” hailey said before she makes herself at home in his kitchen. they don’t spend much time in jay’s apartment; if anything, they usually grab a drink at her place, but she felt oddly at ease in his kitchen.

jay loved it. 

it felt oddly intimate; but this was happening, and he just had to roll with it.

for the first time today, since being charged with baby duty, hailey actually felt confident in what she’s doing. she’s had to make bottles for her nephews before, so this wasn’t new. however, being in jay’s apartment with him felt new and a little too real, but he was acting casual so she’d be damned if she didn’t do the same.

while hailey tested out the temperature of the bottle, jay busied himself with grabbing blankets and pillows from his linen closet (he would never actually call it that, but will gifted him _so many_ blankets, he needed to store them somewhere). he also turned on his netflix and started some old episodes of the office (it was his go-to show whenever he needed some background noise), and he knew hailey loved it. 

he watched as hailey took baby alvin out of his seat and started feeding him.

“wow, you’re really good at this,” he divulged dumbly. he wanted to roll his eyes at himself because it was such a stupid thing to say.

she laughed. “yeah, this part was never so hard.”

he watched for a little longer before sighing. “are we totally in over our heads?”

“oh definitely,” she replied quickly, surprising him with her brutal honesty. “i’m positive one of us will end up crying before the sun comes up again.”

jay stared at her, but she doesn’t even look up from baby alvin.

“wait, are you serious?”

she doesn’t get the chance to reply (she was definitely going to tease him some more because his expressions are priceless) because the door opened and in walked their favourite redhead. his hands are full with a simple playpen and (oh, surprise) _more_ blankets.

“will, for the love of god, _stop_ bringing me blankets!” jay groaned, holding his arms out to grab them but will threw them at his face instead. “i have a closet full of them, dude.”

will rolled his eyes and placed everything else he brought hidden away in the corner. “you know, one day the power will go out or the heater will fail and you’ll be freezing, but you’ll have all my blankets to keep you warm,” he explained his brother with a self-satisfied smirk. “i can’t wait for that day; i will never let you live it down.”

jay mumbled something about will being a drama queen under his breath.

“so, how are you two kids holding up?” will asked, his eyes flickering between the both of them with a cheeky smirk. 

jay shrugged his shoulders; honestly, he doesn’t feel as if he’s done much except carry the car seat around everywhere. “so far, so good. it hasn’t been that bad at all.”

will laughed for a solid minute. 

“you two are absolutely adorable,” he’s still laughing, “this night is going to be fantastic.”

jay knew will was trying to intentionally freak him out; he knew this. but he also knew, it was absolutely working. 

“i am sorry though,” will added, capturing jay’s attention. “i really only came to drop this stuff off. i forgot i had to be at nat’s tonight.”

jay started internally panicking. “what? you’re leaving?” 

he noticed hailey smirking at him. 

“isn’t nat like a baby doctor or something?” jay rambled nervously. he was beginning to feel slightly terrified at the prospect of caring for a tiny human being; so much could go wrong. “yeah, she is. she can come over too!”

will laughed at his brother’s misery. “sorry, bro. it’s a family thing and it’s christmas eve; we can’t miss it.”

“okay, fine,” he relented against his will. “just keep your phone on you.”

will smirked again. “you’re terrified, aren’t you?”

“absolutely.”

jay was done trying to hide it.

“hailey, you’re in charge,” will called out on his way to the door. “i’m sure it’ll be fine, but call me if you guys need anything! merry christmas!”

and then will left, and dread started to pool in jay’s gut.

hailey was done feeding baby alvin and was now bouncing the baby against her shoulder (to make sure he burps, she explained). honestly, jay was learning so much.

“want to give it a try?” hailey asked, moving closer to jay and he froze.

he hadn’t held the baby outside of the car seat since they found him and he’s absolutely terrified to. 

“come on, you’ll be fine.”

hailey left him with no choice when she transferred the baby into his arms. he nervously mimicked what hailey was previously doing, and prayed he didn’t accidentally break the baby. 

“you’re doing great!” hailey encouraged as she cheered adorably. she also pulled out her phone and pointed it in his direction. “sorry, i have to document this. you guys look so cute together.”

jay let her because he couldn’t really stop her (he knew she was taking photos to send to the intelligence unit’s group chat, but they’d been teasing him all day, so who even cares anymore?). 

jay finally heard the tell-tale sign of baby alvin’s burp and he felt slightly more relieved. hailey told him to keep doing what he’s doing until alvin falls asleep, and hopefully that would be it for the night (she was definitely wrong, but we’ll get to that later).

as hailey cleaned up her mess in jay’s kitchen, she also checked her phone to see the reactions in their group chat. 

** cpd assholes **

**adam ruzek:** _dilf… not even sorry_

 **vanessa rojas** : _this is the cutest thing i’ve seen since atwater and the puppies_

 **kim burgess:** _why does jay’s face look like that. he looks like he’s about to throw up_

 **kevin atwater:** _more pictures please upton_

she was quietly laughing to herself, even more so because jay was too busy to check his phone. it was probably for the best, to be honest. her phone buzzed once more and she saw it was a text from adam, sent to her and jay.

 **adam ruzek:** _bad news friends... finally found the mother but she’s deceased. looped in voight and he talked to family services and convinced them to let you guys stay with alvin until the 26th_

 **adam ruzek:** _merry christmas bitches!!!!_

 **adam ruzek:** _btw, jay you’d make a really hot dad. love u bro_

in the meantime, jay had finally set baby alvin back in his seat as he slept, and checked his phone. “hope you don’t have any christmas plans,” jay began, sending her a small smile, “because it looks like you’re stuck with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is part two!!!
> 
> so this was only supposed to be two parts, but i genuinely felt like this second chapter sucked, but was necessary to complete the story… SO THERE WILL BE MORE!!
> 
> i also made this ridiculously longer than i planned or than i usually do but i hope that makes up for the sucky-ness of this chapter!
> 
> p.s. "cpd assholes" is the name of their group chat. i added that last minute so it's not that clever but let me know if you guys think of better ones!!!
> 
> hope you guys liked it!! 
> 
> stay safe xx


	3. part three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao im so sorry this took so long.. life got in the way 
> 
> and tbh, i wasn't really feeling this last chapter but i had to power through!!!
> 
> im really sorry if it sucks. like i said, i wasn't feeling it but i just really wanted to finish, so i hope i did sort of okay lmao

the rest of their night went by relatively smoothly (if you don’t include the part where baby alvin spit up on jay’s shoulder). hailey wasn't complaining though because she got to see a shirtless jay when he whipped his shirt off and threw it in the laundry bin.

now that it was official that jay and hailey would be spending christmas together, hailey realized she never got the chance to drop by her house to pick up extra clothes. since baby alvin was now asleep (back in his car seat because they didn't have anything more comfortable to set him on), hailey thought it was the perfect time to sneak away for an hour.

"what?" jay snapped, watching as she grabbed _his_ keys off the counter because she drove over with him. "you can't leave me, hailey. are you insane?"

hailey rolled her eyes, shrugging on her bomber jacket. "relax. you'll be okay; he's asleep."

"have you never watched any amateur parenting movie?" he hissed, visibly panicking. "you _know_ he's going to wake up as soon as you leave, and i don't have the slightest clue what i'm doing!"

"jay," hailey sighed, hand on the doorknob. jay was glaring so harshly at the door, as if he could keep it closed with the sheer strength of his gaze. "i just need to go home, shower and grab some clothes. i'll be back before you know it."

jay shook his head vehemently. "you can shower here."

"i need clothes."

"i have clothes. what do you think i'm wearing right now?"

_extremely tight-fitting shirts is what you're wearing_ , hailey thought.

"seriously, jay?" hailey said, visibly deflating. "not even half an hour?"

jay latched onto her hand, gently removing his keys from her hand. "hailey, please," he mumbled in a desperate plea.

that's when she knew he was serious. jay halstead rarely, if ever, showed any vulnerability, much less, desperation. that's when she knew she couldn't leave him by himself (even if she genuinely believed he would be fine).

"fine," she conceded, throwing her jacket into his chest. "but i'm taking a nice, hot, long shower now, and you better not interrupt me because of the baby."

jay smirked slightly. "sorry hails, i don't know what you're thinking about. but no, i _don't_ plan on interrupting you mid-shower."

hailey's grin dropped, and she slapped him on the bicep immediately. "there's a baby in the room! stop being gross, halstead."

"you mentioned it first!" he retaliated hotly. "i mean, sure. i was already thinking about you in my shower, but you still said it out loud."

hailey slapped a hand against her forehead (mostly to hide her flaming cheeks). "oh my god," she muttered in mortification, "this conversation got away from me."

"i'm gonna grab a beer," jay said and she could hear him chuckling.

"i'm going to raid your closet and shower." on her way to his bedroom, she turned to him sharply and hissed, "not another word, halstead!"

he mimed zipping his lips closed and throwing the key, but he couldn't hold back his smirk.

with a huff, hailey threw his bedroom door open. his bed was made up neatly and there were no clothes littering the floor. it didn't surprise her; there was never any garbage littering his truck and he always organized his desk before he left for the night. she assumed it was something he learned back in his military days and never lost the habit.

she'd been in his room before; not many times, but she knew her way around. she knew the bottom two drawers of his dresser contained his hoodies and joggers (because they were the biggest drawers and what he owned the most of), so she took the first one she saw. she recognized it instantly, because she had one just like it from her academy days. she dug into the bottom of his joggers drawer, pulling out the very last pair. if it was at the bottom, that meant he didn't wear them often because a) they don't fit anymore and b) they're most likely the pair that won't look as ridiculous on hailey's small frame.

hailey decided on a quick shower, because it was late and she was tired. jay's hoodie fit just how she liked it; loose and baggy. his joggers, on the other hand, were still a tad too long so she rolled them at the waist; for the night, it would do. she gathered all her old clothes and laid them on the spare couch jay had in his room, before making her way back into the living room.

the sight before her was adorable.

jay was sat with his back against the couch, with baby alvin's car seat next to him. he had a beer in one hand and the other resting near alvin. creeping closer, hailey realized his hand was inside the seat because baby alvin was holding onto one of his fingers. hailey nearly melted into the floor.

naturally, hailey had to snap another picture.

"can you stop taking pictures of me?" jay asked without even looking up. hailey fumbled with her phone, nearly dropping it at the heart attack that jay gave her. she didn't even realize he knew she was in the room. "you have the real deal right here. enjoy it."

at this, hailey rolled her eyes and made her way into the kitchen to grab a beer. when she returned, jay was getting off the phone with a grim expression.

"what happened?" she asked immediately.

jay slid the phone back into his front pocket. "nothing," he sighed. "that was dcfs. they found a home for alvin. uh — we can drop him off tomorrow morning."

"oh," hailey breathed. she wasn't sure why she felt like her chest was exploding; she'd hardly spent any time with baby alvin, and she knew all along he'd be going somewhere better. but now that it was official, and so soon, and it saddened her. "that's — uh, that's great."

jay met her gaze, his green eyes understanding. "yeah. i know."

she hadn't said anything, but he knew.

hailey glanced to the corner of the room, where jay's christmas tree was set up. it only reminded her that it was nearly christmas and their time with baby alvin was limited. so, she slid down onto alvin's other side and grabbed the remote from beside jay. "it's almost christmas and we don't have much time with him left. i'm putting on a christmas movie and we're going to hope alvin sleeps through the night. does that sound good, halstead?"

jay smirked, mimicking a salute. "copy you."

hailey decided to go with a classic christmas movie and chose 'christmas with the cranks'. she originally wanted to choose one of those cheesy hallmark christmas movies, but jay nearly tackled her for the remote. hailey wasn't sure how much time had passed but with her head resting against the couch and being as exhausted as she was, she passed out without even realizing it. jay must have dozed off too because when she woke up to soft cries, she could hear his gentle snores. she looked over to him sitting with his head lolled to the side, mouth agape adorably.

naturally, she had to snap _another_ picture.

baby alvin seemed to perk up when he noticed hailey was awake and giving him attention. she took him out of his car seat and grabbed their makeshift diaper bag to change him. jay promised to help and she would kick his ass if he didn't, but he looked so peaceful, she decided not to wake him. she made her way into the kitchen, where it was a bit challenging to prepare a bottle while one arm was preoccupied, but she was slowly managing. it was only a few minutes later, she heard pattering behind her and saw jay. his eyes were squinted at the harsh light and he was scratching the back of his head, messing up his hair.

"what are you doing?" he mumbled sleepily. he looked so adorable, hailey forgot to reply. "why didn't you wake me?"

hailey shrugged her shoulders. jay shook his head with a slight smile and moved her out of the way, taking over the bottle duties. hailey raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"i texted nat earlier tonight after my freakout," he admitted sheepishly, "asked for some basics."

hailey nodded her head, silently impressed. baby alvin cooed happily in her arms when she started feeding him the bottle while jay watched on sleepily. he excused himself to take a quick shower and hailey busied herself with getting alvin back to sleep. he went pretty quickly and she soon found herself draped across the couch, utterly exhausted.

that's what jay walked in to see and he let out a laugh.

"is this what parenthood looks like?" he asked, lifting up her feet so he could sit underneath.

hailey sighed. "i'm assuming so. probably with more puke though."

she could feel his fingers running along her ankles soothingly. "do you want to take my bed? i'll take the couch."

"so gentlemanly of you," she smirked, chuckling. "but no, i'm okay right here. in case he wakes up again."

"i'm always gentlemanly," he shot back. "so gentlemanly that i haven't even told you how i feel about seeing you in my clothes."

hailey raised an eyebrow in his direction. he was solely staring at the tv, but she could see his jaw muscles jumping.

"how _do_ you feel?"

i mean, he had to assume she was going to ask.

with a quick glance towards her, his lips stretched into a small smile. "better yet, let me tell you how you look," he squirmed in his seat and under her intense gaze. she wasn't surprised in the least that he didn't want to talk about his feelings (as nick miller once said "if we needed to talk about feelings, they'd be called talkings").

"if you're going to tell me they look way better on me, please save the clichés."

jay snorted. "of course not. no one looks better in my clothes than me."

"ah, such a charmer."

"shit, sorry," he mumbled, laughing. "you know i suck at this."

"jay, i don't even know what _this_ is right now."

his hands on her ankles stilled. "i'm trying to tell you that you're beautiful and seeing you in my clothes only made me realize how much of an _idiot_ i am that i haven't told you that before."

"oh," hailey breathed. suddenly her sass and playfulness was gone. "well, you're beautiful too."

her sass may be gone, but her ability to make any situation immediately awkward definitely wasn't.

"thanks?" jay laughed. "but you don't date cops," he added, cringing. "which is definitely a good policy. workplace romances are... complicated."

hailey swallowed nervously. this conversation was moving into uncharted territory. "and you already dated a partner before," she blurted dumbly. "and it didn't end well. because workplace romances aren't smart. tactically, they're just... not smart."

honestly, this whole conversation was a train wreck.

"we should get some sleep," he chuckled, "i don't even know what we're saying anymore."

he wasn't wrong and hailey was absolutely exhausted, so she fell asleep again without even realizing it. jay couldn't quite get to sleep because he was still beating himself up about how awkward their conversation had gotten. he simply just wanted to tell her she looked fantastic in his clothes and maybe he wanted to tell her that somewhere throughout their partnership, things had _changed_. at least for him, they had. but his mouth and his brain experienced some kind of disconnection and he had no idea what the hell he ended up saying instead. he ended up falling asleep with similar thoughts running through his mind, and only woke up hours later when baby alvin was screaming at the top of his lungs.

hailey was now curled into herself on the couch and jay was slumped over her. hailey groaned, kicking his hip with her foot. he cursed, flinching awake.

"it's your turn, halstead."

* * *

after baby alvin woke jay up at six am, he couldn't get back to sleep.

after all, it was christmas day.

jay busied himself with caring for baby alvin, surprising himself at his lack of panic. once he was finished and set him down in the playpen will brought, he made a fresh pot of coffee.

with a start, hailey woke up out of her slumber. she had never been so confused, but as soon as she took in her surroundings, everything made sense. she spotted baby alvin in his playpen and dropped by to place a gentle kiss on his head.

"merry christmas alvin," she whispered quietly. it truly tugged on her heart strings, and for a moment, she could feel her eyes watering. this baby had been through hell and back, and here he was, spending christmas with two complete strangers. she truly hoped this new family could give him everything he deserved.

"you okay?" she heard jay's voice closely behind her and she hastily wiped away her tears. instead, jay wrapped an arm around her, tugging her into his shoulder. "merry christmas hails," he said softly, hanging her a mug of coffee.

hailey thanks him with a grateful, watery smile. "thanks jay," she replied warmly.

the moment was sweet and for a second, jay thought this was the perfect opportunity to lean in and just do it. but of course, his doorbell rang.

with a light huff, he pattered over to the door and swung it open to reveal vanessa and adam. "uh — what are you guys doing here today?"

"merry christmas buddy!" adam exclaimed, walking right past him and into his apartment. vanessa followed behind him with a polite smile. "it's nice to see you too!" he captured hailey in a hug.

jay stood at his door, even more confused than before. "i thought you guys all had stuff?"

"we did," vanessa replied, her arm changing around hailey's shoulders. "but we heard about the new family. thought you guys might need some moral support."

hailey's heart clenched at the sheer adorableness that were her friends. even on a day that was meant to be spent with family, they were still there for each other. they were family too, after all.

"now, where is my little rugrat?" adam cooed, reaching down to pick up baby alvin.

who would have thought that adam was so good with babies?

now that adam and vanessa were there, jay and hailey could go change and get ready for the day. vanessa had also brought hailey some spare clothes (bless her soul), so before they knew it, they were heading out the door and into jay's truck. this time, loading the car seat was much easier and there were no groans in frustration. adam and vanessa followed closely behind in adam's car. hailey couldn't deny the pool of dread low in her belly; the closer they got, the more she nervously played with her fingers. eventually, jay reached over and tangled his with hers, so she could nervously squeeze his hand instead.

when they arrived at baby alvin's new home, adam and vanessa went to ring the doorbell while jay and hailey gathered everything necessary.

looking down at alvin's smile, hailey frowned. "jay, i can't do it. you have to do it."

"hailey," he said softly, "i — i don't think i can do it either," he admitted honestly.

luckily, adam had come over to say his goodbyes to baby alvin. with one look into hailey's sad eyes and jay's grip of death on the car seat, he knew without words. he gently took the car seat from jay's grasp and took him away from them.

hailey leaned against the truck heavily. she had only known this baby for barely twenty-four hours but it honestly _hurt_ to see him go, even if it was for the best. jay leaned next to her, wrapping a tight arm around her shoulders. she knew she was tearing up again, but she didn't bother hiding it this time. "it's okay, hails. it's for the best."

she knew that, but it still hurt.

adam handed the car seat over to the happy couple and hailey could see their happy tears.

"i know. merry christmas jay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize, i know it sucks. especially the upstead dialogue at the end lmao... i don't even know what was happening there 
> 
> i was going for a will they/won't they vibe and tbh i think i just ruined it altogether
> 
> but i wanted to finish this and i did, so im proud of myself for that 
> 
> thanks for reading for those of you who did!!
> 
> stay safe everyone x

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY SO 
> 
> if any of you watch ncis, you will recognize this as the plot from one of the episodes with ellie & nick!!
> 
> i always thought it was absolutely adorable (so are they tbh) and always wanted to make it into an upstead theme... so, here it is, i'm trying lol
> 
> i think it's too much to just fit in a one-shot so i'm going to make it multi-chaptered!! definitely two chapters, maybe even three, depending how it goes.
> 
> hopefully you guys actually like this idea lol... let me know!! i realize this chapter was kind of bland but it was just the set-up i needed to get started!! next chapter will include the whole unit with endless teasing and fluff.. so stay tuned!! 
> 
> and as usual, any prompt or requests or ANYTHING, please drop a comment below bc i'm always looking for more ideas on what to write!!
> 
> thanks everyone, enjoy & stay safe xx


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